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August262014

Startup Advice: Find Your Target Market

Now that we have defined the problem and come up with what we think is a quality solution to that problem, we know need to look and see if there is big enough market for your solution to consider developing a business plan.

How To Find The Size Of Your Target Market

Know Your MarketVisit trade shows and network with other people who are professionals in your niche. This will give you a good grasp on the industry you are trying to enter.

Another great resource is trade publications - they will give you an insight into the industry from a trade perspective.

Talk To PeopleWherever you are take the opportunity to ask people what they would look for in the type of product or service you are considering. This will give you a very broad range of potential customers - all with quite different responses.

Spy On Your CompetitorsIf there is a product similar to yours already on the market why not look at where they sell their product, try and find out how popular it is and find a way to gauge the amount of sales that they have. This will give you a great idea on how big your target market is.

Making sure that you have a big enough market to make your product or service profitable is one of the most important steps in the startup process.

If you get this wrong you may end up with an amazing product with no one to sell it too.

In a few words, an offshore company is a legitimate entity, which is established in an offshore financial center or tax haven, Singapore is a good example of such places. Such company is secured by specific legislation that warrants a status of full or partial tax exemption.

Tax Advantages

There are specific rules regarding taxes for companies registered offshore. For instance, in the United States, a US expat may be exempted in paying tax for making his first $91,500. Nevertheless, this is not the main tax advantage of offshore companies.

There is also what is known as tax deferment. This means that you delay the tax payments so you can just pay them in the future.

Benefit of Confidentiality

Another reason why people register their companies overseas is the benefit of confidentiality. In certain countries, companies that are non-resident are not actually obligated to publish their financial information, not even the details about their shareholders and directors.

A lot of offshore financial jurisdictions are not required to reveal this information especially to third parties unless suspected of terrorist or criminal activities.

Lesser Legal Obligations

With offshore companies, officers or directors, almost always, have lesser legal obligations. The needs that physical offices require may be beaten as you can hire virtual services, which are more cost effective. This can save you money as well as time.

Protection of Assets

An offshore company is a valuable means in terms of holding assets like real estate investment or intellectual property. This is especially beneficial for those who have international business interests.

Lesser Maintenance and Set Up Costs

Setting up an offshore company does not only allow you to save money on tax, it can also allow you to put up lesser costs on maintenance and set up.

Compared to local business or company set up, offshore companies require lesser costs – this is especially true if you are dealing with an online offshore business or company. Moreover, to many countries, business registration is not as tedious.

If you are looking to start your own business, it is just sensible for you to sit down and think about what specific business type you want to start. Do you want to be selling products? Do you want to sell your services?

Alternatively, do you want to incorporate products and services?

You have to determine this first in order for you to properly set up your business structure.

You have to understand what you do best and what the market wants or needs at the same time also considering your capital.

Next, you should decide where your business will be located. This is crucial so you should take your time in searching for the right place. The business contribute a lot to your potential sales and clientele build up.

Business Registration

This is one of the initial things that you should look forward to doing – registering your business.

This is very important wherever you want to start your business in. You must never ever start your business without dealing with this as your business might just close down if it is running illegally or if it is unregistered.

This might seem a tedious task to do, but it will be all worth it. In order to register your business, you must research about the requirements that you will be asked to submit so you can prepare them beforehand.

In addition, you must decide what type of business you want to start up. Is this for Sole Proprietorship, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), Partnership, Limited Partnership (LP), or Company? Then, once you have settled that, you must research if the name you want for your company is still available.

Special Business Requirements

Again, depending on the place where you want to setup your business, there might be special business requirements that you may need to fulfill. Make sure to learn about these and prepare them ahead of time. Take for example here in Singapore, you will need an EntrePass if you want to start a business – this is a type of visa.

Now, this requirement also has its own set of requirements such as the business structure of choice, and minimum paid up capital. You have to know if you will be needing any or such type of special requirement so your registration or business startup will flow smoothly.

Be Prepared For Taxes

You are not new to taxes since employees get taxed, too. However, if you are to start your own business, you must know that taxes will be hugely different from the usual employee tax that you know of. These taxes might differ from place to place.

The GST is imposed on the importing of goods that may be used for your product or business. Other taxes may include, but are not limited to withholding tax, property tax, and stamp duty. In this light, you will have to make sure to contact or get in touch with a professional for accounting questions.